So I’m still reading Heir to the Empire, by Timothy Zahn. I’m enjoying it, but I haven’t been getting enough reading time this week, so I’m still only a bit past the halfway mark. But I’m plugging along, and eager to find out what happens.
I also haven’t been reading the rest of the High Republic comics I’d started. I made it through Volume One of both the Marvel series and the High Republic Adventures, but I’m not making headway through Volumes 2. I’ll get there, though.
One of the reasons I’m not reading as much is because I decided to do a Rebels rewatch. All the excitement about the Obi-Wan series and the attention on the Inquisitors made me think of this awesome series, and I wanted to revisit it (for the third time, I think, lol). I just love it so much. I’m probably halfway through Season One, and it just gets better from there.
Bring it on, Empire.
I’m sure no one noticed, but I didn’t do a High Republic Wednesday post this past week. We decided to homeschool my daughter, and I was busy getting information on all that and working on setting it up. Middle school is always tough, but the whole Covid thing just made it worse, and the students are, let’s just say, “unruly.” She doesn’t feel safe in her own school, which is sad. And unacceptable. Anyway, I’m hoping to get back to it next week with a post about my ranking of the High Republic books of Phase One.
With all the Kenobi show excitement, I almost forgot that Moon Knight will be premiering very soon, at the end of this month. The latest short clip only proves to me that this show is going to be nucking futs, and I can’t wait!
That’s it this week. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
The Age of the High Republic was a time of exploration. While the Republic expanded across the stars, Jedi were often stationed on outposts throughout the galaxy, helping those in need no matter where they were. Where are some places that you want to explore in your life?
My answer was:
“I’m not much of a traveler. I’m more of an armchair traveler than anything. I love learning about other places, but mostly in the comfort of my own home. Mostly, I don’t like the actual logistics of traveling–the driving, the plane ride (and the airport), the weariness of it; I just know I’d get sick, lol. If there were teleporters like in Star Trek, where you could just beam over–or a holodeck!–that’s my style. But I can’t deal with the stress of traveling. So I’ve actually been to very few places in my life.
This bothered me for a long while. What’s wrong with me? Why don’t I like to travel? Don’t I realize I’m missing out on a vital experience of life? What a weirdo! Don’t I want adventure in my life?
Not really, lol. I’m like Reath Silas, a Padawan of the High Republic. He’s perfectly satisfied not to have any adventures, and would be happy spending his life in the Jedi Archives. I love him because of this–I can relate. Of course, he’s a Jedi, and it’s inevitable that adventure finds him. But me? I’m waiting for the holodeck!
So, what places would I program into it? Here’s a list:
The United Kingdom (London, Dublin, and Edinburgh in particular)
Europe in general, but especially Switzerland
New Zealand
An Alaskan cruise would be nice
California wine country
Hawaii
Pyramids of Egypt (of course!)
While I’m waiting for the holodeck, perhaps virtual reality technology could take me to some of these places. Until then, I’m happy to learn about and see these places in books and videos. Boring, I know. But that’s who I am, and I’m okay with that. A Jedi accepts what is, right?”
I’ve been keeping up my meditation practice, fifteen minutes every day. I’m not quite ready to move onto twenty minutes yet, but I’ll know when I am. There’s no right amount of time, anyway. But my personal goal is to get up to thirty minutes, perhaps by month three. It’s funny; some days are more challenging than others. Some days I’m just so twitchy and itchy; and others, I’m serene and still. But I show up everyday to sit and be quiet, unless I’m sick or something (I had an allergy attack the other day and couldn’t imagine sitting while sniffling and sneezing, lol). But overall, it’s going well.
In honor of the Obi-Wan Kenobi teaser trailer this week:
Rebel of the Sands, by Alwyn Hamilton.
Where would you want to explore? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
So I’m about halfway done with Heir to the Empire, and I’m really enjoying it. Some things are kind of funny, like Joruus C’baoth, the crazy clone Jedi, lol. It’s only funny now because this obviously was written before anyone really knew what the “Clone Wars” actually were, and what “clone” referred to. The new canon has also shown that it’s not that easy to clone a Force-user. Looking forward to finishing it and going onto the second in the series, Dark Force Rising.
Luke revisits the Dark Cave on Dagobah in Heir to the Empire.
I’ve also been reading the High Republic comics: the Marvel series and the High Republic Adventures. I’ve finished Volume 1 of both series, and will be working on Volume 2 for both. I’ve mentioned before that reading comics is new to me, and slightly disorienting. It’s a very different experience than reading a book, which is a very orderly process. With comics, I kind of have a headache afterward, lol. I do love the stories though, and the visuals are great. I’m just not used to them being thrown together.
Keeve and her master, Sskeer
Now, onto the super-awesome-I-can-hardly-stand-it exciting news: the Obi-Wan Kenobi teasertrailer that was dropped this past week. Oh muh gawd, this series looks amazing! The trailer gave us some tantalizing scenes without giving too much away. We see a young Luke Skywalker, a scene with Uncle Owen and an Inquisitor (called Reva), we see the Grand Inquisitor (who looks weird, not gonna lie) and Fifth Brother from Rebels, we see their Fortress (from Fallen Order). And Obi-Wan, of course. So so so cool. My heart is bursting. And this is just a teaser!
There were also images from an upcoming Entertainment Weekly issue, which I will be scanning the racks for in the next month. I have a feeling it will be hard to find, though. But since I’m a Star Wars fan, I have hope.
Last week I featured a favorite artist named Jake Bartokwho’s done some wonderful Star Wars art. Another favorite artist is Uzuri Art, who’s also done some amazing Star Wars images. I came across this Obi-Wan piece the other day and it seemed fitting to share:
Gorgeous.
That’s it this week. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
Week five of the Inner Jedi Notebook. This week instead of a question (or in addition to one) there was an activity. At first I thought I’d skip the coloring activity, thinking it silly or unnecessary, but then I thought, if you’re going to do this, do everything. Don’t skip. So, below witness my Luke and Yoda masterpiece, lol.
Coloring Meditations:
“Luminous beings are we.”
Yoda
What are some of the qualities that make you a luminous being?
Color in the scene on the opposite page, and then decorate the following spread with illustrations, taped or glued-in ephemera, and other embellishments that symbolize your best traits.
I forgot how much I loved coloring when I was a kid.
This is just a bunch of stuff I found on hand when I was working on it this week. I focused on my family and my love of nature, mostly. How do these things make me a luminous being? They’re things that make my soul happy.
My tribe.
I’m still meditating fifteen minutes every day. I think as a beginner, you never really know if you’re doing it right, lol, or how you’re supposed to feel afterwards. I find that I do look forward to that little bit of quiet time everyday. No computer, phone, TV, book, work, errands, chores, people needing me, etc. It’s me-time, when I can just be quiet with myself. And that alone is worth it.
Obi-Wan by croaky on Devientart.com
What makes you a luminous being? If you’d like, we can talk about it in the comments below!
Just a few things this week. I’ve finished the YA book Before the Awakening, by Greck Rucka, and it was actually a lot better than I was expecting, to be honest. It consists of three short stories, each one focusing on the three sequel trilogy leads: Finn, Rey, and Poe. The stories take place just before the events of The Force Awakens, and we get a little glimpse of what these characters were doing just before the film.
Nothing revelatory here: Finn is training as a stromtrooper with the First Order and is beginning to have some doubts; Rey is on Jakku and finds a crashed ship she decides to fix up and sell to Unkar Plutt for rations; and Poe goes on an exciting piloting adventure in his first foray in the Resistance. They’re fun little stories that gives us a little more insight into these characters and where they’re at emotionally at the beginning of TFA. I enjoyed it.
Future friends.
As I await the next new Star Wars book (Queen’s Hope, on April 5th), I was casting around for an adult Star Wars novel to read to get me by until then. As I was scrolling through some canon books I haven’t read yet, I realized I just wasn’t interested in them (at least at the moment). I enjoy a good Legends book now and then, and thought it might be time for one of those.
One in particular (or rather, one trilogy) that I’ve been avoiding in Legends is the original Thrawn trilogy, and the first set of books that came out after Return of the Jedi. Not because I don’t like Thrawn; on the contrary, I think he’s a great character. I’ve tried to read the new canon Thrawn books (well, at least the first one, simply called Thrawn) but I couldn’t seem to get into it. I think it’s because in these books, Thrawn is the protagonist. But I like my Thrawn as the antagonist–the bad guy.
So I decided to read Heir to the Empire. I’d been avoiding it because, unlike some of the prequel Legends books I’ve read, this one diverges radically from what is now considered canon. Taking place five years after the Battle of Endor, Han and Leia are married, and are expecting twins, a girl and a boy. Luke is involved in the New Republic trying to establish itself on Coruscant. It’s a whole new set of events, and I wanted to get a handle on the canon first before I dived into this. I consider Legends an “alternate universe” version of Star Wars, kind of like the Marvel What If? idea.
Strangely enough, I did read this book when it first came out in 1991. I was starving for more Star Wars, and wanted to know what happened after Endor. Funny thing is, I couldn’t remember a thing about it (it was over thirty years ago, I guess, lol), except that it had Thrawn in it, and Leia and Han had twins. And Mara Jade, who I remember not liking very much at the time. I might have read the second book in the trilogy, but I really can’t remember. It all just seemed so weird to me, lol. But I figured this time, with the perspective of time and all the Star Wars I’ve ingested over the years, it could be interesting.
Anyway, I’ve read about a quarter of the book so far, and the verdict is…I’m loving it!
Where the EU all began.
It’s quite entertaining, and fun, and well-written by Timothy Zahn. Thrawn is great as the bad guy, although a very interesting one, and it’s much faster-paced than the new canon book Thrawn (I couldn’t finish that one). I love that we get Luke, Han and Leia front and center going on adventures together. I find the idea of the twins fascinating (and the sequel trilogy characters Rey and Kylo/Ben were modeled after them, I believe). There’s just a lot to love here, and I can’t wait to read the rest of it! Then onto Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command.
I’ve also been reading the High Republic comics: the Marvel series and the High Republic Adventures. I wanted to get more of the High Republic story that I’d been missing from the novels. And they’re great, but I was surprised by how unprepared I was to read comics.
What I mean is, I’m a book reader, and I’ve never in my fifty years read any comics, or any graphic novels, for that matter. And I found it–disorienting–trying to read comic panels. It was kind of overwhelming, at first. A lot of things are going on visually, and I had a hard time deciding what gets read first, and which way to go, and taking it all in…it definitely has all your brain cells firing at once! I love, love, love the images, though. A very different experience than reading a book, which is a very orderly process. But I’m getting used to it! I’ll probably write about them in next week’s High Republic Wednesday.
Sskeer is a rather terrifying Jedi, lol.
That’s it this week. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
This was a fun entry, and echoes a post I did about my five favorite Jedi. The journal only gave five lines for each of the Jedi, so I had to be especially succinct. If you’re interested in my more exhaustive blog post, you can check it out here.
For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic.
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Who are your favorite Jedi Knights? What are the qualities that you admire most about them, and how do they embody the spirit of a Jedi?
These were my choices:
Obi-Wan Kenobi. Obi-Wan is the ideal Jedi–he’s kind, empathetic, dedicated, and loyal. He’s calm in a crisis, and is a superb warrior. He loves deeply (Anakin and Satine, for example), but not possessively. His commitment to protecting Luke borders on martyrdom. He is selfless–yet not perfect. His loyalty to a flawed Jedi Order cost him Anakin. He always trusts in the Force.
Qui Gon Jin. Qui Gon is an authentic Jedi in the truest sense of the word–he is true to the Force (mostly the Living Force) and himself. He is a wise, patient master to Obi-Wan. And he questions and defies the Jedi Council numerous times. He questions authority when warranted. He’s a bit of a mystic, with an interest in the Prophecies.
Ahsoka Tano. Ahsoka is a Jedi with the biggest heart. Her first instinct is to help people, always. But she’s also got some sass, and some cool moves. She’s brave for leaving the Order and striking out on her own when she felt they’d betrayed her. And I love her double lightsabers!
Luke Skywalker. Luke personifies compassion. He loves his friends, but it was his unconditional love for his father that saved Anakin from Darth Vader and the Emperor. He’s been tempted by the Dark several times, coming to the brink, but never lets it consume him.
Kanan Jarrus. Through Ezra, Kanan relearns to be a Jedi, and what it means to be one. He learns to care again after the devastation of Order 66. He made the ultimate sacrifice for those he loved most, and for a cause he cared about.
I’m proud to say I’ve made it up to fifteen minutes of meditation everyday. Still fighting the thoughts, earworms, and images that come into my mind, as well as the itchy face, aching back (even though I’m sitting in a chair, lol), and occasional cat disturbances. Maybe someday I can be as serene as Kanan here (I’m not holding my breath about lifting the rocks):
Kanan by Jake Murray on Devientart.com
Who are your favorite Jedi and why? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
I don’t have a lot to report this week. I’ve been reading Mission to Disaster, by Justina Ireland, the middle-grade High Republic book recently out, and I’m almost done with it. I don’t usually do reviews for the middle grade books, but I might do so this time. It’s quite good.
Other than that, March is looking wide open as far as books and shows go. Moon Knight premieres on the 31st, but other than that, there’s no Star Wars or Marvel show that I can think of that will fill up the month. There’s also no big book releases. The months of April through August (at least) will keep me busy with a new book release per month, but March? Zip. What’s a Star Wars fan to do?
Well, catch up on other things, for one. I remembered I’d ordered Before the Awakening, by Greg Rucka, on my Kindle a while ago but never read for one reason or another. It’s a YA book (I think) that has some stories about Rey, Finn and Poe before the events of The Force Awakens. I’ll probably dig into that.
I’ve also ordered the combined comics of the Marvel High Republic series, as well as the High Republic Adventures. I’m pretty excited about this, as I’ve long wanted to read these comics. I’m not a huge comic fan, but I know that the story being told in the High Republic era encompasses both books and comics. There are characters that feature mainly in the comics (like Avar Kriss, Keeve Trennis, Skeer, and many others), as well as storylines that I feel are important to understand the totality of the High Republic era.
I also think that, with a storyline that has no live-action medium (or even an animation), the comics really fill in the look of the High Republic. What do these characters look like? What about the ships, and the droids, and other aspects of the High Republic that we’ve never seen before? The comics answer those questions and gives us a visual to latch onto. So yeah, I can’t wait to read these!
Oh, and by the way, we’ve got a cover for the YA book by Kiersten White about a young Obi-Wan Kenobi coming out on July 26th:
Obi-Wan looks pretty intense here, lol. Definitely on my pre-order list.
That’s really about it right now. What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
I’ve been working on my Inner Jedi Notebook for three weeks now, and I’m really enjoying the experience.
Here’s the question for Week Three:
Yoda assigns Anakin Skywalker a Padawan in Ahsoka Tano, in the hopes that mentoring a young Jedi would help Anakin discover his own best traits.
Decades later, Yoda would implore Luke Skywalker to pass on what he has learned to a new generation of Jedi. How can you be a mentor to people in your own life?
I answered with this:
“The obvious example that comes to mind is my daughter. We care for our children, protect them, play with them, but I think we also hope that we can guide them, teach them, impart some wisdom. My daughter is thirteen, so is probably at an age where she doesn’t quite want to listen to my lessons, lol. But I’m hoping, throughout the years, that a few things sink in that she can later retrieve: Be kind, always (she’s already pretty good at this; in fact, she’s got the biggest heart in anyone I know). Love yourself. Stand up for yourself. Listen to your intuition. Respect yourself. Believe in yourself. These are actually things I’m still working on. I’m hoping by imparting these lessons to her, I will also learn them. Be the example. Like a Master and a Padawan, the hope is that you can learn from each other. I know that eventually I will need to learn to let go, to teach her to be independent and send her out into the world. This terrifies me, lol, but is probably the most important lesson of all.
Yoda says over and over, especially in the High Republic books, that Padawans teach Masters the hardest lesson: to let go. Yoda ought to know–he’s probably had dozens of Padawans over his long life. And he had to let each one go. People with multiple children must guide and protect them, and then let each one go, one by one. I only have one child, and that seems hard enough!”
I got up to fifteen minutes of meditating this week, at least until Wednesday, but then I didn’t feel well, and didn’t do it for a couple of days. But I’m better and back on track, so I’m planning on fifteen minutes every day next week. It’s a habit I want to get into, like brushing my teeth; and also work my way up to thirty minutes, if I can. It seems impossible now, but so did meditating in the first place, so we’ll see.
Rey meditating on Ach-To by Shawn Duddridge on artstation.com
Are you a mentor to anyone? If you’d like, let me know about it in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
I’ve finished Midnight Horizon, the latest High Republic YA novel by Daniel Jose Older, and although it didn’t wow me at first, it did get better and ended up being quite good. I’ll probably do a review of the book for next week’s High Republic Wednesday’s post, so stay tuned.
I’m now reading Mission to Disaster, the middle-grade novel by Justina Ireland in this third High Republic wave, and the end of Phase One. I’ve generally liked the middle-grade novels, and Ireland is particularly good at them; it also centers around Vernestra Rwoh, one of my favorite High Republic Padawans. I literally just started it, but I’m looking forward to getting into it.
Vernestra and Imri battling some gnarly looking space crocs.
In other Star Wars book news, it seems I have another to add to my pre-order list, lol. On August 16th of this year a book called The Princess and the Scoundrel will be released. It’s a book about Han and Leia’s wedding, if you can believe it. It’s by Beth Revis, who wrote the excellent YA novel Rebel Rising, about Jyn Erso, so I’m hoping good things come of it. At first, I thought, Um, really? but it actually sounds like it could be kind of neat. It will tell of their wedding on Endor, and then of their honeymoon on the Halcyon cruise ship. But while on board, they get involved in some kind of adventure, as it’s clear the Imperials are still around. Could be fun.
In other extremely exciting Star Wars news, there are reports that Jimmy Smits will be making an appearance in the Obi-Wan Kenobi show. This comes with other rumored plot leaks that I won’t mention (so be careful online if you want to go into the show without spoilers), but I will say I’m so happy to know that my original favorite space dad, Bail Organa, will be showing up!
In Marvel, I watched Assembled: Eternals. I really like these Assembled episodes, which show the making of these wonderful shows and movies. And since I absolutely loved Eternals, this one was pretty special. I don’t think Eternals went over well with a lot of long-time Marvel fans, and I think it’s because it’s so different than what they’re used to seeing. But as a new Marvel fan (just in the past year), I’m not so entrenched in “what Marvel should look like.” So I think I’m more open to new things. That’s my theory anyway, lol.
In more Marvel news, the Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness trailer dropped recently, and it was insane. I have no idea what the hell is going on here, lol, but it looks awesome! I can’t wait!
Speaking of trailers, there’s more: Moon Knight had a teaser trailer during the Super Bowl, and it looks just as crazy and incomprehensible. But cool, too.
This has been a week for trailers, as there was also one for The Rings of Power series that will premiere on Amazon Prime in September. I don’t know much about this series, but it’s something I’d love to watch. I probably won’t get Amazon Prime, though, so I’ll have to wait until it’s available in some other form.
That’s about it–mostly upcoming shows and books that I can’t wait for!
What’s been entertaining you? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!
Last week I decided to share my thoughts and insights from my Inner Jedi notebook.
Here’s the question for Week 2:
“As a Padawan learner, Jedi apprentices study under the tutelage of a Jedi Master. Who are the mentors in your life who have imparted great wisdom to you? What lessons have you learned from them?“
Here’s my entry:
“When I think of mentors, I think mostly in terms of writing. There are a few teachers who encouraged me in writing–my fifth grade teacher Mr. Lapean, who liked my fantasy stories; my English teacher at the community college, Phyllis Nahman, who liked my papers and essays and told me that I’m a good writer. They were good encouragers.
But as far as “wisdom” goes, I have to go to writers and their books on writing. My major writing guru for many years was Natalie Goldberg. I discovered her book “Writing Down the Bones” in the early 90s when I was in my early 20s, and it was probably the greatest influence on how I went about writing–and living. I read all of her writing books and all of her memoirs, and filled stacks and stacks of notebooks with writing based on her methods and exercises, notebooks I still have in a cardboard box somewhere. Her writing rules were: 1. Don’t think; 2. Keep your pen moving; and 3. Go for the jugular. Timed writing is big–start with “I remember” and go for 10 minutes, don’t stop until the 10 minutes are up. The point was to evade the censor and get to “wild mind.” I still do this kind of writing sometimes, but not always. What stuck with me was her absolute commitment to writing, her personal stories, and her belief that writing and living are intertwined. One enriches the other.
I’ve had other writing gurus over the years–Julia Cameron and her “Artist’s Way” books; Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Big Magic” is a wonderful book on creativity and living. And lately I’ve been reading Jen Sincero’s Badass books, which are about reaching your greatest potential. I guess gurus are a bit different than mentors. I’ll just call them teachers.”
I’m still meditating, too, which impresses me, lol. I’m up to ten minutes a day. It’s definitely an interesting experience, wrangling with your own mind. These two make it look easy:
saddew.art.design on tumblr.
Do you have any mentors? If you feel so inclined, tell me about them in the comments, and we’ll talk about it!
Your source for everything Obi-Wan Kenobi. This is the companion blog to the @AllThingsKenobi Twitter. Because our love doesn't always fit into 280 characters.
Star Wars and Other Obsessions 